Chelsea Langston

On Ash Wednesday, February 10^th, in a press conference in Chicago, Wheaton College professor Larycia Hawkins and Wheaton College president Philip Ryken spoke about their how their faith calls them to reconciliation, notwithstanding Hawkins’ departure.

Much has been written about the events leading up to this moment. The basics: Dr. Hawkins made a social media comment in December stating that Muslims and Christians “worship the same God”to show support for Muslims being mistreated in the wake of recent terrorist attacks. Wheaton put Hawkins on administrative leave and asked her to write a theological statement showing how her Facebook statements aligned with the Wheaton Statement of Faith. Hawkins provided a response and provost Stan Jones asked Hawkins to take part in further dialogue. She declined. In response, Jones pushed forward with steps to terminate Hawkins. The Wheaton Faculty Council released a letter voicing their concerns about the process Hawkins was undergoing. The controversy opened the door to a wave of public discussion about whether or not Christians and Muslims worship the same God.

Of course, the main questions before Hawkins and the Wheaton administration were narrower: Does Wheaton’s statement of faith make it clear that Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God? And, importantly, what is the process for faculty who make public statements that may be out of line with the statement of faith?

President Ryken noted in an email to the Wheaton campus: “Because concerns have been raised about many aspects of this complex situation—including concerns related to academic freedom, due process, the leaking of confidential information, possible violations of faculty governance, and gender and racial discrimination—I have asked the Board of Trustees to conduct a thorough review.”

In an email on February 6^th, Jones said that he had withdrawn the charges under which he had sought Hawkins’ termination. He stated: “I asked Dr. Hawkins for her forgiveness for the ways I contributed to the fracture of our relationship, and to the fracture of Dr. Hawkins’ relationship with the College.”Jones explained that he’d apologized for the ways in which he initially communicated with Hawkins through a colleague, as opposed to directly. According to the Washington Post, Jones clarified that while he still has theological questions for Hawkins about her earlier social media statement, he withdrew his charges for her termination “because of the ‘deficiencies’ in his early responses, and recognizing that Hawkins’ theological response was a ‘promising start’ toward the conversation he wished to hold.”

Shortly after Jones’ email, President Ryken sent out an email stating: “The Administration and Dr. Hawkins have come to a place of resolution and reconciliation…With a mutual desire for God’s blessing, we have decided to part ways.”

At the Ash Wednesday press conference, Ryken noted that he and Dr. Hawkins were “saddened by the brokenness we have experienced in our relationship and the suffering this has caused on our campus and beyond,” and stated he was “grateful to come to a place of resolution and reconciliation … by Jesus Christ.”

Wheaton professor George Kalantzis also commented: “It is important for us to know what reconciliation involves, as Christians. Forgiveness is not forgetting, forgiveness means to look at the bloody, awful, painful truth of our broken relationships and still choosing to be in reconciliation. It is about choosing not to allow the brokenness of our relationships to define us.”

Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, has stressed the faith-rooted grace and call to resolution demonstrated by both Wheaton College and professor Hawkins. He stated: “The more important story is the grace notes we have seen. It should not escape our notice that the language of lament and shalom that the Wheaton community so freely uses today springs from that same faith identity. It is their faith that makes Wheaton a community.”

How can faith-based organizations learn from the example of Wheaton in this broken, yet grace-filled, situation? Here are two suggestions:

Remember that religious freedom is best understood when FBOs practice organizational transparency. There were many discordant voices in the weeks leading up to this final resolution. Many disagreed with Wheaton’s interpretation of its Statement of Faith. Many disagreed with its process. Yet Wheaton exercised its religious freedom in two distinct and important ways: (1) it stood by its doctrinal understanding of a Christian God and (2) its leadership openly admitted the brokenness of the process itself, seeking grace and reconciliation. When faith-based organizations seek both truth and grace with this level of openness and transparency, the true nature of their faith shines through. Too often, FBOs avoid the spotlight when it comes to upholding their faith-based principles and when it comes to admitting their own shortcomings and need for grace. Wheaton’s bold attempts both to uphold its doctrinal faith identity and to transparently seek forgiveness and reconciliation for its procedural shortcomings is an example of an organization truly embodying the truth and grace of its Christ-shaped identity.

Remember that the tides of public perception do not change the calling of FBOs to live out their faith. Wheaton’s decision to address Hawkins’ social media statement remains, in many circles, an unpopular decision. After all, Wheaton risked the criticism that it was targeting Hawkins for her gender, her race, and her wearing of a headscarf in solidarity with Muslims during Advent. It surely would have been much easier for Wheaton to just let the comments pass as if they had never happened. Yet as an institution shaped by its faith, Wheaton’s administration made the difficult decision to uphold that faith, regardless of the predictable media firestorm that followed. Likewise, when Wheaton’s administration came to the conclusion that its processes and communications with Hawkins fell short of the levels of wisdom, collegiality, and clarity that it should hold itself to as a Christian institution, Wheaton took a large public perception risk by simply being honest about its need for grace and reconciliation. FBOs can weather the storms of public perception by both standing by their faith-shaped principles and humbling themselves when they fall short of their own faith-inspired standards.